Why do Americans still dislike atheists? (page 5)

PSacramento

You worship an evil jerk, Dawkins politely points out that the guy you worship is an evil jerk, therefore Dawkins is an asshole.

Nope, and I don't think his an asshole and I think you missed the point of why SOME may think he is.

Actually, Dawkins does a pretty good job of describing that god. Not one thing there is untrue. Now if you believe that a god with those traits is holy and good, then you have no problem with the summary. If it makes you uncomfortable---well think of how uncomfortable all those dead Canaanites (babies too) were when they met the people who worshipped such a god.

Indeed, Dawkins does a good job of describing an interpretation of the OT biblical God, he does a good job of voicing his opinion.

That isn't the point either.

Taking what Richard has said and done, his clod and impersonal letter to his daughter for example, I can also state that:

Dawkins is a cold hearted, souless, arrogant, ass that has relationship issues ( his divorces), that likes to pretend he is an expert about things he has only a rudimentary and passing highly selective knowledge about, He makes himself to be more than others, insinuates that those that don't think like him or agree with his views are ignorant and not very bright, he has shown to acre more about his child view of the world then whether his child is content, happy or even healthy, He crusades against views he disagrees with, militantly, even if he has no reason to do so.

And I would be right based on my highly selective interpretation of the limited facts I chose to acknowldge and how I choose to acknowledge them.

And guess what? I'd be ok in doing this because it is only my opinion.

I would be WRONG, but still "ok".

NewChapter

Yeah, you can go after Dawkins character that's fine. He doesn't claim to be holy or good. But still, that god sanctioned the extermination of an entire race including babies, but it's close minded to define it as such. It's weeding through the facts. Hitler tried to exterminate an entire race, but he brought unemployment to nearly zero for his chosen race. Perhaps we should focus on only the good aspects and not malign the man so. I think this goes beyond the normal way humans screw up their lives and deep into crimes against humanity.

I remember that story where the Israelites didn't kill the canaanite women and children thinking maybe they could live. That wasn't to be so. They got in a heap of trouble and the women and babies were massacred anyway. It's hard to work past something like that, no matter what good the individual did in other areas.

NC

DagothUr

The question is...why do atheists still dislike Americans?

ziddina

"Sorry, but most people I come across couldn't care less. I certainly never hear atheists spoken of in the same derogatory way that blacks or Jews have been. This article is bunk. ..."

Keyser Soze must live in Vermont or Oregon...

cofty

The cultural differences between Americans and Europeans is well illustrated by our banknotes

Here is our £10- note

and here is the US dollar

How would Americans react if Darwin was celebrated on your cash?

ziddina

"Don't you really mean if your 8-year-old couldn't keep your beliefs to himself? Let's face it, even as adults, it takes us years or decades to finally start figuring things out, after decades of life experience, education, and sporadically researching various subjects. I'm in my 30s and been engaging in serious research for about 10 years now and I'm still tweaking my beliefs. To even imply an 8-year-old has beliefs is disingenuous. An 8-year-old merely mirrors his/her parents' beliefs, whether they be "Catholic", "Muslim", "atheist", "Jehovah's Witness", etc... "

WontLeave, it depends on which 8-year-old kid you're talking about...

I was around 7 - 8 years old when I recognized the account at Exodus 19: 16-19 as a rough description of an erupting volcano - upon which I immediately realized that the bible 'god' couldn't be real, because 'he' told "moses" to draw the Israelites to the foot of an erupting volcano...

Which meant that neither the Israelites nor their 'god' actually knew what a volcano was.

If I had been truly free within my family-of-origin - instead of being hit and kicked and slapped into the religion - I would have left around the age of 10, and probably would have declared myself an atheist at that age, too.

FlyingHighNow

Oh heyyy, the fundy Christian god is not the only god people believe in. Not all concepts of God are the literal biblical one.

cofty

So is it in any way a disadvantage to be openly atheist in USA?

NewChapter

It is for people I know Cofty. As I said before, it really depends on where you live and what you do. It's pretty common for people that are not the target of the oppression to not believe it exists. They don't feel it therefore it's not true. But when someone tells me they are discriminated against because of their non religion, and they give me examples, I tend to believe them. Especially in this climate.

NC

cofty

Recently I was reading about the pressure that was being put on US soldiers to go along with an evangelical christian influence in the military. This would never be tolerated in the Brittish Army. My son actually wrote "atheist" on his form where it asked about religious affilitaion when he was in basic training. I'm not sure an American soldier could do that with impunity?

Why do Americans still dislike atheists?

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